Every online business owner has one very important question in his mind, how to get my website to rank high for specific keywords on search engines and especially Google? Well there is no simple and straight forward answer to this question as the algorithms used by the search engines are updated frequently. In order to understand what needs to be done to rank higher on search engines it is necessary to find out more about two factors. Firstly, what is the secret behind the rankings for the current highly ranked website? Secondly, what factors are taken into consideration while ranking websites by Google and other search engines? It all points to knowing more about the search engine and understanding your competitors.

So if you want to rank your website high and beat your competitors to the top of the search engine results then these 11 SEO tips are for you.

1. Images and flash

Excessive usage of images and flash can be detrimental to the rankings as they are devoid of any text. Search engines are unable to understand what the content of the image and flash objects is without supporting content. Even if flash and images make your website fun and visually appealing, it can affect your rankings negatively. Similarly, using a lot of JavaScript on a website can affect the rankings as it tends to confuse the search engine crawlers.

2. Loading speed of the Website

Ensure that the website loading speed is superfast or atleast faster than your competitors. Google values speed and as part of its quality control will reward websites loading faster with higher rankings. JavaScript, flash and high resolution large sized images are to be avoided as much as possible as they slow down the loading of the website.

3. Avoid duplication to rank high

Avoid duplication of content at all costs. Posting similar or same content on one or more pages can negatively affect your rankings. Try to post unique and different content on the webpages as Google gives higher ranks to such content.

4. Keyword tools for SEO

There are several keyword tools available online – free, paid, simple, complex and choosing one can be confusing at best. However, choosing appropriate keywords is necessary for higher rankings, wherein the Google AdWords Keyword tool comes in as a simple and handy tool. Find out the most valuable keywords for the website as a whole and the page individually. Choose keywords which are highly searched but have low competition.

5. URL

The URL of a website matters and should not be ignored. Create a domain name that contains the keywords used in ads and the website content. URLs need to have meaningful keywords and not numbers or punctuation marks. The search engine crawlers can then better understand the content of your website and reward your website with higher rankings. Avoid using dynamic URLs; instead prefer to use static URLs. The length of the URL should not be more than 10-12 words.

6. Page Name and Meta title

Page name and Meta title is essential for each page of the website. Create descriptive page names and different Meta titles for each page and make sure both are relevant to the content of the page and the website as a whole. This can help Google to understand the importance of each page and thus Google will help rank each page in the relevant search results.

7. Length of posts

Try to keep the length of the posts between 500-800 words to see them “rank” on the search results. For each 250 words of text include 2-3 keywords that are being targeted for the page.

8. Content

Frequently updated websites with fresh, new and unique content gets higher rankings. It is recommended to posts new content atleast twice a week as that will not only attract readers more frequently but also boost rankings. Adding a blog to the website can help in posting new content which gets indexed by Google. Thus more content means that the website has more chances of getting indexed and ranked. Blogs help cast a wider network and that can bring in more viewers.

9. Frames

Search engines like Google and frames are not the best of friends and don’t mix well. Still if you wish to use frames then make available a “noframes” version of your site. However, the best way to get the website indexed by search engines is to use the “noframes” version of the website.

10. Use keywords in the website description

Use the website’s description space to your advantage by adding valuable and targeted keywords in the description

11. Don’t depend on AdSense and AdWords to boost rankings

AdSense and AdWords only boost your revenues and page views so don’t depend on them too much for SEO. They will not harm the rankings but will also not improve them any further. They appear only in paid search locations but not in natural searches.